We're over that hurdle

I'd been wondering about it practically since the day he was born...okay, dreading it is probably a better word.  When would it happen?  How would he handle it?  How would we handle it?  Would I be the Mom he needed me to be or would I fall apart too?  I can safely now say...this one has been checked off the list.

What is it?  The dreaded stomach flu.  Yes, our poor little guy experienced his first bout with the nasty, wretching horrible sickness last night.  The funny thing is that I was just thinking the other day how we had made it this far.  I guess I should be thankful we made it past the age of 2.  He's at a stage now where he can comprehend what we are saying, listen-somewhat-to instructions, and understand when we are trying to comfort him.  That being said, I can't say it was fun.

Rusty hasn't been sleeping well lately.  Waking up off and on throughout the night, early in the mornings.  Last night I went to bed early, totally exhausted and hoping to be able to sleep through the night and sleep in this morning.  I snuggled down into bed and Kev came in about an hour later.  Next thing I knew, I heard him crying.  I went in to check on him, and he seemed to have lost his soother.  I found it, gave it back to him, and thought that would be it.  Thirty minutes later he was crying even more and begging for his drink.  I gave him a big drink and laid him back down.  Maybe that would be it.  Fifteen minutes later we heard a loud thump and bump and then he was SCREAMING.  LOUD.  Kevin rolled over and said, "This is ridiculous!"  I agreed, stumbling out of bed.  I went into the room, reached down to grab him, and suddenly found my hand soaking wet, Rusty still screaming in my ear.  I wasn't sure what it was, but I knew it wasn't good.  I yelled for Kevin, we flipped on the lights, and there it was...Rusty's first real vomit...all over the crib and himself.

I am proud of how I reacted as a Momma, I have to say that much.  I didn't even give it a second thought, I pulled him from the bed, held him tight, and immediately began to calm him as Kevin went into action.  The next thing I knew he was vomiting again, all over me and the rug in his room.  I rushed him into the bathroom, crying uncontrollably, and tried to explain what was going on while peeling clothes from him and myself.  The poor little guy didn't know what to do.  He had never experienced anything like it.  I was able to rinse him off in the shower and get him changed into clean clothes as Kevin worked feverishly to clean up his room.  I was able to calm Rusty, telling him he was sick, and had the "ackies" and we would do what we could to help him.  Once we both had clean clothes and he was snuggled in my arms I made my way out to the living room, where I would be for the rest of the night.

I'm so proud of Rusty.  The little sweethart handled it like a real trooper.  He would go on to vomit pretty intensely four more times throughout the night.  Each time he cried, but listened as we tried to help him and followed directions of getting out of his clothes, us getting him cleaned up, even going through a middle of the night bath at one point.  In between the rounds he was actually quite chipper and even funny at some points.  Mostly he just sat in my lap in our blanket covered recliner, watching his favorite shows, snuggling tight to me.  Finally around 4:30 a.m. we had our last episode and by 6:30 I was feeling confident enough to take him to my bed to lay with me while I just watched him and made sure he was ok as he slept.  It seemed he was finally settling out.

Kevin was amazing. The man just went into action.  I think he felt like he was on laundry duty all night, and he basically was, but he never complained once and just did the work that needed to be done.  Rusty wanted nothing but his mama-of course, isn't that the way it is with kids-so Kev was left with the dirty work, and I love him for it.  He even stopped at one point to tell me what a great mother I am.  What a sweet guy!

I am glad I can stop wondering when that first hit will come and what it will be like.  I am also glad it happened on a weekend!  I am thankful that he made it past two years-old before we had to deal with it.  I'm glad he is such a sweet-natured little boy.

And now, for some comic relief, because we ALL need it after a night like that...the stats:

• Loads of laundry washed throughout the night:  5.
• Number of times the washing machine started to jump in place due to us overloading it:  2
• Number of towels we went through:  7
• Number of blankets we went through:  4
• Times Rusty said "I want Mama!":  Too many to count
• Times we had all of the lights in the house turned on and then off and then on:  4
• Amount of times we changed Rusty's clothing:  5
• Amount of times I changed my clothing:  3
• Number of baths for Rusty in the night:  1
• Number of showers for me in the night:  1
• Number of paper towels we went through:  an entire roll
• Number of times I thought, "I'm so thankful for Dora on the PVR":  too many to count
• Number of coffees we needed this morning to get through the day:  2, half-caffeine for me, just to be good to the baby who did a great job of keeping me company with its thumps and bumps in the night.

All in all, we were a great team and Rusty was a total trooper.  I know it could have been so much worse and now it is another hurdle we are past!  I know that next time it happens we will have a better idea of how to handle it and we know that we work well as a team.  Most of all, I'm thankful to see my little munchkin feeling better and holding down some food.  We'll let you know when I have managed to Lysol every surface in the house and washed all bits of clothing and linens that may have come into contact with the germs.  Maybe then it will be safe to visit!  And now...I need a nap while the sweet boy is sleeping.